Brockton police commissioner position endorsed

Mayor Bill Carpenter is seeking the ordinance, so that Police Chief Robert Hayden, who is currently serving on a 60-day interim basis, can lead the department for one year.

BROCKTON – In a meeting that lasted barely three minutes, the City Council Ordinance Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend a proposed ordinance that would create a civilian police commissioner position to head the Brockton Police Department.

Mayor Bill Carpenter is seeking the ordinance, so that Police Chief Robert Hayden, who is currently serving on a 60-day interim basis, can lead the department for one year.

Hayden cannot serve as chief in a long-term capacity because of a state law that mandates police officers retire at age 65. Hayden is 71.

City Councilors Dennis DeNapoli, Dennis Eaniri and Thomas Monahan were the three councilors who supported the measure. Councilors Timothy Cruise and Jass Stewart, who also serve on the committee, were not present when the vote was taken.

Before the vote, the councilors reviewed three amendments that were made to the legislation before it was recommended favorably to the entire City Council.

One amendment, which reduced the commissioner’s annual salary from $149,000 to $51,600 and limits Hayden to 960 hours of work per year, was necessary due to a state law governing the pension and post-retirement employment of former state and municipal employees.

Hayden previously served in the Boston Police Department for 28 years.

Another amendment changed the qualifications for the police commissioner position to require a potential candidate to have a minimum of 25 years of law enforcement experience and to have previously served as a chief of police in Massachusetts.

The final amendment is a sunset provision, which states that the ordinance shall only be effective for one year following passage by the City Council and approval by the mayor.

The ordinance will now be sent back to the full City Council, which will take up the legislation at their next meeting. From there, the council may choose to send it to another committee for further deliberation or vote on it.

“I think what the Ordinance Committee did this evening was moving it in the right direction to bring it back to the full City Council,” said Eaniri, the chairmen of the committee. “If it needs to be further discussed, that’s where it needs to be done so that all councilors can chime in on it.”

Despite the favorable recommendation, Carpenter is still skeptical that the legislation will be enacted by the council.

“Obviously, I’m pleased that they sent it up with a favorable recommendation and that they adopted the amendments that we had discussed, but in terms of the full council, I don’t believe we have the votes and I believe our work is still cut out for us,” Carpenter said.

However, Carpenter added that he thinks the ordinance enjoys wide support with the both the public and the police department.

“I think the City Council is the only group in the city where Chief Hayden does not have unanimous support,” Carpenter said.